Endangered spoonbills return to Liaoning

More than 80 black-faced spoonbills have flown from Taiwan to their breeding grounds — Zhuanghe, in Dalian, Liaoning province. They are building new nests or mending old ones as breeding season begins.

According to Zhuanghe's natural resource service center, the first group of birds returned in mid-March to two tiny uninhabited islands – Xingrentuo and Yuanbaodao.

Every year, the birds stay in northeastern China for about eight months before flying south for the winter in mid-October.

Featuring a bill shaped like a long spoon, the species was classified as critically endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature in 2000.